Rolling out the EV charging network
The Indian vehicle market is poised for a historic leap into electrification. In many ways, the speed of adoption, accelerated by decreasing capital costs and rising fuel prices, could be as startling as that for mobile phones in the country. On the rollout of a charging network for electric vehicles (EVS), India faces the classic chicken and egg problem—evs require charging infrastructure and that requires EVS.
Many studies have modelled the likely growth of the EV industry. The broad outlook appears to be that new vehicle sales are expected to account for 30 per cent of private car demand, 70 per cent for commercial cars, 40 per cent for buses and 80 per cent for two- and three-wheelers by 2030. Surprisingly, e-rickshaws have emerged as a large market in India in a short time even as a large part of this market is still unorganised and based on lead-acid batteries. They are expected to rapidly shift to lithium-ion battery and by 2024-25, as much as 40 per cent of e-rickshaws are expected to be Liion based.
According to the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles, there are 1,800 charging stations in India as of March 2021 for approximately 16,200 electric cars. Contrast this with the national network of 70,000-odd fuel stations. To achieve the expectations by 2030, it has been projected that India will need 29,00,000 charging points at an investment of ~21,000 crore, over and above a substantial number of in-home charging points.
To attain this rapid rollout, different design and implementation formats have been planned for the four broad segments of Urban Public Charging, Domestic Charging, Highway Public Charging and Captive Commercial Charging. The Ministry of Power has issued guidelines applicable to EV charging stations. The state discom is the mandated nodal agency. However, state governments shall be free to delegate this to a central or state public sector unit.
Public charging stations shall be a delicensed activity and any individual or entity is free to set these up, obtaining electricity under open access. The tariff, determined by the state electricity regulatory commission shall not be more than the average cost of supply plus 15 per cent. Private charging at residences is permitted, and domestic tariff is applicable.
The National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 provides the overall vision. Statal institutions are working in tandem to give EV adoption and charging infrastructure the much-needed thrust. The Department of Heavy Industries has laid out the FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles) policy. FAME provides upfront incentives on the purchase of EVS as well as for development of charging infrastructure. The Ministry of Road Transport has announced that EVS will be issued green licence plates. The Department of Science and Technology and the Bureau of Indian Standards are collaborating on developing indigenous charging options and standards. The state discoms have announced a variety of facilitative measures. The GST Council has reduced the rates on charging station equipment from 18 per cent to 5 per cent. Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) under the Ministry of Power, and Convergence Energy Services Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of EESL, are pushing implementation on the ground, forging partnerships with state governments and involving both public sector partners like Bharat Electronics and a host of private companies keen to enter this space. NITI Aayog is spearheading the Mission for Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage, that amongst various activities, seeks to proliferate low-cost charge-points for two-wheelers and three-wheelers across Bharat.
A clear need simultaneously is to sort out the issues related to uniformity of standards and “interoperability.” The concern over EV charging time can be resolved by battery swapping. Battery swapping requires a consistent standard of batteries fitted in EVS. Battery-swapping facilities are to be set up alongside charging infrastructure. The three types of interoperability — plug type, charger-to-network communication, and network-to-network communication, all need to be aligned.
The announcement by Reliance Industries at its AGM in June on taking a big bet on hydrogen and fuel cells has set the cat amongst the pigeons in the EV market. The announcement came amidst growing concerns about China’s dominant position in the global sourcing of cobalt, lithium and nickel — all important ingredients for battery usage. Hydrogen-power is a contrarian vision pitted against Tesla and other automotive giants that are going for the battery-led technology. The Reliance bet would also use existing petrol-pumps to fill liquid hydrogen in vehicles — obviating the need for fresh charging networks.
However, there are also concerns over whether splitting the tightly bonded oxygen and hydrogen atoms of water is energy inefficient. About 50 units of electricity is required to produce a kilogram of hydrogen, not counting the energy costs of the total plant system as well as for storage and transportation. Why use electricity to produce hydrogen when you already have it, is the question posed. In his speech on Independence Day, the Prime Minister formally announced a National Hydrogen Mission, clarifying that such hydrogen production would be “green” using renewable energy sources, and not entail any greenhouse gas emissions.
While the EV versus hydrogen debate is likely to gather traction, it certainly raises questions on the way the vehicle market is going to evolve; with countries, manufacturers and institutions taking different positions on choice of technology.
However, the all-round efforts do lead to the expectation that like mobile telephony, India may well be able to demonstrate another “leapfrogging” in adoption of green automobiles vis-à-vis the rest of the world.